Raisi's visit to Beijing.. What are the prospects for economic cooperation between Iran and China?

Tehran

- Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this morning, Tuesday, in Beijing, and discussed with him the implementation of the strategic document signed by Tehran and Beijing in 2021 for a period of 25 years, as well as issues that Iranian media describe as of common interest.

During his 3-day visit, the Iranian president and his accompanying delegation will meet senior Chinese officials to activate previous treaties and sign new agreements, in addition to meeting with Chinese and Iranian businessmen residing in China.

Raisi met the Chinese president for the first time last September on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan.

Prior to his visit to Beijing, Raisi published an article under the title "Old friends, the best partner for a bright future" in the People's Daily of the ruling party in China, stressing Tehran's determination to advance the strategic partnership on the political and economic levels with Beijing, and recalling the history of relations and common denominators between the Iranian and Chinese people throughout. past centuries.

Official Iranian media said that Beijing and Tehran had signed 20 cooperation documents over the past years in the fields of transport, especially rail transport, energy and infrastructure, at a value of about $12 billion, and that Raisi's visit aims to activate these agreements.

What is the significance of Raisi's visit to China?

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani described China as his country's first trading partner, and that Raisi's visit to Beijing aims to strengthen their relations at various levels, especially in the economic field, noting that the comprehensive agreement signed between them represents a roadmap for cooperation between the two countries.

In his weekly press conference, Kanani stressed, yesterday, Monday, that the visit will provide a basis for the implementation of the long-term agreement, and there are documents and agreements that will be signed in this context, describing the result of cooperation between the two countries as positive so far.

For his part, the deputy head of the Iranian presidential office for political affairs, Muhammad Jamshidi, announced that the visit aims to put the final touches to the implementation of the comprehensive agreement between Tehran and Beijing, and that it comes within the framework of Tehran's policy aimed at economic rapprochement with a focus on the Asian region.

Jamshidi stressed, in statements to Iranian television, that the Islamic Republic is looking forward to intensive economic cooperation from the Chinese side, based on the strategic partnership between them.

The composition of the Iranian delegation accompanying Raisi on his visit to Beijing indicates the economic importance of this visit, according to former Iranian diplomat Fereydoon Majlissi, who believes that the predominance of the economic color among the members of the delegation indicates the priorities of this visit.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his assistant for political affairs, Ali Bagheri, accompany President Ibrahim Raisi on his visit to Beijing, along with Minister of Economy Ehsan Khandozi, Minister of Oil Javad Ochi, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin, and Minister of Agriculture Javad Sadati Nejad. Minister of Roads and Housing Mehrdad Bazarbash, and Central Bank Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin.

In light of the financial restrictions imposed by the sanctions on Iran's financial exchanges and the return of its export revenues to the country, Majlis explains to Al-Jazeera Net that the presence of the Iranian Minister of Economy and the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran in the delegation accompanying the President aims to find solutions to overcome the hard currency scarcity crisis.

How can China help Iran's economy overcome Western sanctions?

The official Iranian side describes its relations with China as having been positive so far, and talks about the determination of the two sides to advance bilateral cooperation at various levels, especially in the economic and political fields in addition to military cooperation, as a senior Iranian official described Beijing as one of Tehran's main customers for drones, and revealed His country intends to supply the Chinese ally with 15,000 drones.

Days before Raisi's visit to China, the official IRNA news agency quoted a senior adviser to the Iranian Minister of Intelligence - without mentioning his name - as saying that Iran's military capabilities had reached a level that made China prepare to buy 15,000 drones from Tehran, indicating that there are customers for Iranian drones in 90 countries. .

For his part, former Iranian diplomat Fereydoon Majlissi doubts the implementation of such a deal during the coming period due to the restrictions imposed by the nuclear agreement and UN Resolution 1231 against military cooperation with Iran, adding that Beijing can help Iran to overcome economic pressures.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, the two councils describe China as the only destination for Iranian goods and the only way to circumvent Western sanctions due to its large needs for raw materials, explaining that the western side is not able to monitor Beijing's extensive trade and that the latter can continue its trade exchanges with Tehran on the high seas at low prices. .

Regarding China's political support for his country, the former Iranian diplomat says that there is no permanent friendship between countries, but rather national interests that justify the moves of the major powers in international circles, explaining that he does not count much on Beijing's support for the Islamic Republic regarding its thorny files with Western powers.

What are the prospects for cooperation?

There are no official statistics on Iranian oil exports to China due to US sanctions on Iranian oil exports, but the Chinese side has persevered in importing Iranian oil despite the sanctions imposed on it.

The latest reports issued by companies specialized in tracking oil flows around the world indicate an increase in the volume of Tehran's crude exports to China during the past three months, as the data of "Vortexa", "TankerTrackers" and "Kpler" companies estimate the volume of Iranian exports at about one million barrels. Daily.

As for non-oil exports, China is the first trading partner of the Islamic Republic, according to Ruhollah Latifi, a member of the International Relations and Export Development Committee at the Iranian Chamber of Industries, Mines and Trade, who confirmed that his country's foreign trade with China exceeded $25 billion over the past ten months. .

Latifi explained - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that Iranian non-oil exports to China increased during the past ten months by 10% compared to the same period in the last Persian year, as this year it amounted to 12 billion and 806 million dollars, while Tehran's imports from Beijing amounted to 12 billion. And $ 698 million, an increase of 33%.

Latifi expected Raisi's visit to China to reflect positively on trade between them, stressing that the presence of the Iranian oil minister in Raisi's accompanying delegation aims to increase Iranian crude exports to China, and that the ministers of agriculture and industry seek to advance bilateral trade between the two countries.

The Iranian economic activist concluded that the agreements that will be activated during the visit regarding transit and financial exchanges will reflect positively on Iranian-Chinese trade, explaining that Tehran and Beijing are working to exchange Iranian riyals and Chinese yuan in their financial dealings to mitigate the effects of the Western embargo imposed on the Iranian economy.

China and Iran signed a 25-year partnership agreement at the end of March 2021 (Reuters)

What are the reasons for criticism about the policy of heading east?

Prime Minister Ibrahim Raisi's government announced from its early days that it would prioritize the policy of strengthening relations with neighboring countries, and would work to put an end to economic pressures through partnership with the eastern powers, and would not wait for the outcome of the nuclear negotiations aimed at salvaging the nuclear agreement with western countries.

There are two segments of Iranians who direct harsh criticism of Raisi's government because of this policy, which has come to be known as the policy of heading east or the policy of rapprochement with the eastern powers.

The first segment, which is close to the reformist camp, criticizes Raisi's government for not moving a finger in order to improve the living situation, and reproaches it for the criticisms it leveled at the previous government for its desire to reach an agreement with the West and save the nuclear deal.

Also, this segment believes that insisting on strengthening relations with both China and Russia at the expense of European countries will not be in the interest of national interests, not to mention that this policy is on its way to charging the country a high price in the field of Iranian-Russian cooperation, and Western accusations about providing Tehran with the Russian side Drones he uses in his war against Ukraine.

As for the second segment, which is from the conservative camp, it criticizes Raisi's government for not expediting the implementation of the agreements it concluded with China and adopting a policy similar to the government of former President Hassan Rouhani, despite knowing the outcome of this policy.

In the context, the researcher in political economy, Atta Bahrami, published an analysis with the "Tahririya" Institute for Economic Studies, in which he says that the visit came too late due to the neglect of national interests, and that both Tehran and Beijing are indispensable for the energies of the opposite party.

Bahrami points out that parties in Iran are constantly working to strain relations between Tehran and Beijing at the expense of national interests, criticizing what he called the government's negligence over more than a year of Beijing's cards that would support the besieged Iranian economy.

He concluded that the main political currents in his country want to strengthen its relations with the Western powers, despite the slogans they raise regarding the policy of heading to the east, considering that the Iranian guide Ali Khamenei is the only one who truly encourages the strengthening of the country's relations with the eastern powers.